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Water markets and soil salinity nexus: Can minimum irrigation intensities address the issue?

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  • Khan, Shahbaz
  • Rana, Tariq
  • Hanjra, Munir A.
  • Zirilli, John

Abstract

Agricultural water markets can facilitate adjustments to water scarcity and competition and enhance economic efficiency, but markets cannot automatically balance efficiency, equity and environmental sustainability goals. The consequences of water trading on soil salinity in irrigation areas are not yet fully understood, but recognized as an issue that needs to be analysed. This paper explores the nexus between water trading and groundwater-induced soil salinity in a selected irrigated area in the Murray-Darling Basin. Results show that minimum irrigation intensities must be met to flush salts out of the root zone especially in shallow water table/high salinity impact areas. Such minimum irrigation intensities are helpful but not necessarily in deep water table/low salinity impact areas. Should water markets lead to permanent water transfers out of mature irrigation areas, minimum irrigation intensity needs might not be met in high salinity impact areas, causing substantial negative impacts on resource quality and agricultural productivity. Water trading that adds to salinity cannot be economically viable in the long run. The tradeoffs between water trading and environmental and equity goals need to be determined. This work contributes to the wider debate on Australian water policy aimed at achieving water security through water trading in the Murray-Darling Basin.

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  • Khan, Shahbaz & Rana, Tariq & Hanjra, Munir A. & Zirilli, John, 2009. "Water markets and soil salinity nexus: Can minimum irrigation intensities address the issue?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 493-503, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:96:y:2009:i:3:p:493-503
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Juliane Haensch & Sarah Ann Wheeler & Alec Zuo & Henning Bjornlund, 2016. "The Impact of Water and Soil Salinity on Water Market Trading in the Southern Murray–Darling Basin," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(01), pages 1-26, March.
    2. Frank A. Ward, 2016. "Policy Nook: “Policy Challenges Facing Agricultural Water Use: An International Look”," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(03), pages 1-14, September.
    3. Claire Settre & Jeff Connor & Sarah Ann Wheeler, 2017. "Reviewing the Treatment of Uncertainty in Hydro-economic Modeling of the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(03), pages 1-35, July.
    4. Aein, Reza & Alizadeh, Hosein, 2021. "Integrated hydro-economic modeling for optimal design of development scheme of salinity affected irrigated agriculture in Helleh River Basin," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    5. Athukorala, Wasantha & Wilson, Clevo & Managi, Shunsuke, 2017. "Social welfare losses from groundwater over-extraction for small-scale agriculture in Sri Lanka: Environmental concern for land use," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(PA), pages 47-55.
    6. Mai, Thanh & Mushtaq, Shahbaz & Loch, Adam & Reardon-Smith, K. & An-Vo, Duc-Anh, 2019. "A systems thinking approach to water trade: Finding leverage for sustainable development," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 595-608.
    7. Wasantha Athukorala & Clevo Wilson, 2012. "Groundwater overuse and farm-level technical inefficiency: evidence from Sri Lanka," School of Economics and Finance Discussion Papers and Working Papers Series 279, School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology.
    8. D.-A. An-Vo & S. Mushtaq & T. Nguyen-Ky & J. Bundschuh & T. Tran-Cong & T. Maraseni & K. Reardon-Smith, 2015. "Nonlinear Optimisation Using Production Functions to Estimate Economic Benefit of Conjunctive Water Use for Multicrop Production," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(7), pages 2153-2170, May.
    9. Sarah Ann Wheeler, 2022. "Debunking Murray‐Darling Basin water trade myths," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(4), pages 797-821, October.
    10. Wichelns, Dennis & Qadir, Manzoor, 2015. "Achieving sustainable irrigation requires effective management of salts, soil salinity, and shallow groundwater," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 31-38.

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